After tissue has been wounded or cut, the opening must be surgically closed to stop bleeding and enable healing of the tissue. In cases of severe bleeding, one attempt to stem blood loss is the application of a hemostatic agent, such as collagen, from a syringe barrel to the wound to form a wound dressing. The hemostatic agent, on contact with blood, acts to stem bleeding.
However, when the hemostatic material is packaged, over time, shrinkage occurs within the matrix of collagen fibers, often about fifteen percent. This shrinkage can allow the mass of collagen to slide out of the syringe barrel. Further, after a portion of the mass of collagen has been dispersed from the barrel, the remaining amount has a tendency to fall out of the barrel.
In cases of laparoscopic surgery where application of hemostatic agent is necessary, a patient""s abdominal cavity is pressurized with gas in order to lift the muscles on the abdominal wall away from the internal organs. A cannula extending through the patient""s abdominal wall provides access for instruments, such as syringes, to the abdominal cavity. However, gas often leaks past instruments through a lumen, defined by the cannula, and out of the abdominal cavity, thereby necessitating reinflation of the abdominal cavity.
Therefore, a need exists for an apparatus and method for applying a hemostatic agent to a surface of tissue, which minimizes or overcomes the problems discussed above.
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for applying a particulate hemostatic agent onto living tissue.
The apparatus includes a tube having a first end and a second end. A lumen of the tube is tapered from the first end to the second end. A hemostatic agent source is within the tube. Means is included for directing the hemostatic agent from the tapered tube through an opening at the second end. The hemostatic agent can be directed by means for directing from the tapered tube through the opening onto the tissue.
The method includes the steps of placing a tube, being tapered from a first end to a second end, whereby the second end is proximate to the tissue. The tapered tube retains the hemostatic agent within the tube at the second end. A means is controllably actuated at the tube to direct the hemostatic agent through the second end and out of the tube onto the tissue, thereby applying the hemostatic agent onto the tissue.
This invention has many advantages. One of these advantages includes allowing accurate placement by a surgeon of the hemostatic agent onto a bleeding site or within an abdominal cavity. The apparatus also allows for control of the amount of the hemostatic agent applied, while not allowing the hemostatic agent to inadvertently slide out of the tube. The hemostatic agent can be applied within the abdominal cavity without allowing an excess of gas to escape.